Guide to Kuta, Lombok: my favorite chill, surf town of Indonesia

A month in Kuta, my favorite place to call home in Indonesia

Kuta, Lombok quickly became one of my favorite places during my travels in Indonesia. I arrived after 1 month of bouncing around Indonesia, whereas I normally like to travel slower, and honestly I was exhausted. I arrived hoping to find a place I would like enough to chill out, call home, and settle down at for a little bit, and that was exactly what I was lucky enough to find in Kuta. My friend said it would be the kind of place where I would want to extend on and on and on to forever, and boy was she right. I started out staying just a week, and loved it so much I ended up staying a month there and then visiting a few more times. It was a bittersweet goodbye.

Kuta is a small beach town that somewhat revolves around a chill surf vibe. There are a handful of bustling main streets lined with cheap warungs (local eateries), restaurants, cafes, shops, and bars, and it’s surrounded by beaches that you can lounge, relax, and surf at. While people oftentimes visit Kuta to surf, there are plenty of things to do otherwise and a laidback atmosphere that makes simply being there enjoyable. You can lounge at the various beaches, explore the island by scooter, eat your way through plenty of delicious cuisine, and enjoy the nightlife of a casual beach town.

The vibe in Kuta is perhaps my favorite thing about it. It feels very laidback and relaxed, where life mostly revolves around chilling and surfing, yet there are still plenty of things to do everyday, that you’ll never feel bored. There’s a good mix of traveler and local life, and it doesn’t feel too touristy, especially in comparison to places like Bali. The vibe of the people there is friendly and relaxed, and it’s the kind of place that draws you in to stick around longer. Kuta really offers the perfect mix of surf, chill, and adventure, and is an ideal place to slow down and just enjoy life.

Contents

Getting to and around Kuta

Where to stay

Beaches and surfing

What to eat and drink

What to do besides beaches and surf

Day and weekend trips from Kuta

Getting to and around Kuta

Getting to Kuta by plane

Lombok has a small international airport. If you fly directly into Lombok, you can easily call a Grab (Indonesia’s Uber) from the airport to Kuta. It’s only about 30 minutes away and should cost you around 200K ($13). While you may be able to find a Grab at the airport, I’d recommend installing the app ahead of time.

Getting to Kuta by boat/land

If you’re coming from Bali or the Gili Islands, you’ll arrive Lombok at the Bangsal Harbor in the north of Lombok. It’s then a 2-3 hour drive from the harbor to Kuta. From your accomodation or around town where you’re coming from, you can find agencies advertising shared cars that will take you from the harbor to Kuta. This is the most economical option (around 150K), but it’s oftentimes a packed car with no AC. If you have at least 1 person to share with, the better option is to arrange a private car to take you from the harbor to Kuta. It costs around 400K, so the price is similar to the shared car if you have 2+ people. A couple recommended drivers that I used in Lombok are Sutthan +62 877-8764-6878 and Purna +62 878-6559-2928. Both are very friendly and professional.

Getting around Kuta

Renting a scooter is basically a necessity in Kuta. Many other places in Indonesia have Grab, but it doesn’t operate in Kuta, and Kuta is spread out enough that you’ll need a scooter to get anywhere. Within the center of town, things are walkable, but if your accommodation is even a 15 minute walk from town, streets in Indonesia don’t have sidewalks and a 15 minute walk isn’t actually that pleasant of an experience. Aside from eating and drinking, everything to do in Kuta is outside of town itself and requires a scooter to get to. Most beaches are around a 20 minute drive away. If you’re staying only in town and going on guided surf trips that includes transport from Kuta, you can probably get away without a scooter, but your freedom will be severely limited outside of these trips.

If you’ve never ridden a scooter before, Kuta is a great place to start! The roads are wide, paved, and relatively uncrowded. I actually learned to ride in Kuta as well, and had a friend take me to an empty parking lot to drive circles first, though many people actually just hop on the scooter and start driving around town first thing.

What if you’re scared to drive a scooter? Honestly, there’s not really a way around it. You will either need to learn to drive one yourself, or tag along rides with someone who can. Everything around Kuta is a 15+ minute drive away and not walkable. The surrounding scenery around Kuta is beautiful, and it’s a very nice place to cruise around on a scooter.

Where to rent a scooter

Most accommodations will have scooter rentals for a good price, which is the simplest option. Botchan Hostel had scooter rentals for 60K ($3) per day. My friend wanted a nicer scooter and went around to several scooter rental shops in town to find the best deal. The best place he found was Scooter Lombok, where he rented a Vario 125 for 70K per day.

Where to stay

Kuta is a pretty small town with a few main streets creating a “downtown area”, and those main streets lead outward to the area that’s a “bit out of the downtown area”. There are tons of accommodations throughout both the main area and a bit outside of the main area. I stayed a little outside of the main area (20 minute walk or 3 minute scooter ride to the main area), and I liked this a lot. I liked being able to stay in a quieter part of town while having the bustling area easily accessible. Seeing the transition from bustling life to calmer, more local life as you drove down the street everyday was also a nice experience.

There’s also all sorts of accommodations in Kuta, ranging from nice hotels and villas, to surf camps, to homestays, to hostels. I stayed at Botchan Hostel, which I loved and would highly recommend. It’s a perfect mix of laid-back and social, where you can easily do your own thing, but always find people to meet if you want to. Socializing here feels easy and organic, and there’s plenty of opportunities to meet people during breakfast (which is included) or by the pool throughout the day. Like Kuta in general, most people are there to surf, but you'll also find plenty of people just enjoying beach days and exploring the area. So don't worry if you're not into surfing, you'll still feel at home in the chill, welcoming atmosphere.

Beaches and surfing

There are a myriad of beaches to explore all around Kuta! They are all around a 15-20 minute scooter ride away and require a scooter to get to. There is a main beach in town, Kuta Beach, but it’s not particularly nice and people generally don’t spend much time there. Below I’ll give you a short description of the nearby beaches I visited and my surf recommendations.

Tajung Aan

Tajung Aan is a beautiful beach with a large white sand area about a 15 minute scooter ride from Kuta. It’s my favorite beach to go to to just chill at for the day. The beach is good for swimming, and like most beaches in Indonesia, it’s lined with various warungs where you can buy food, drinks, and lay under a beach umbrella at for the day. I would say it’s probably the prettiest beach in the Kuta area.

You can also surf at Tajung Aan. It’s more of a beginner, or beginner to intermediate wave, with relatively small waves that are long, gentle rollers. I must’ve surfed the longest wave of my life at Tajung Aan, though it was a small one. You can rent a board on the beach for 50k IDR ($3.50), and while you can see the break from the beach, it’s a relatively long paddle out and you could also pay for a boat ride to and from the break for another 50k IDR. I’m an intermediate surfer and did the paddle out, and while it was long (about 15 minutes), it was definitely doable. One of my beginner surfer friends came as well though and while he survived the paddle out, he said he would not do it again and would pay for the boat next time. So, if you’re used to the shoulder workout, it’s fine! But if you’re just starting out, maybe save your energy for the waves.

Since it’s a beginner friendly break that’s relatively accessible, the lineup is always very crowded here. The waves break over a reef and at low tide, it’s too shallow to paddle out, so you can only during mid to high tide.

Gerupuk

Gerupuk is just a little past Tajung Aan and is the best break for intermediate surfers. There’s no place to lounge at the beach at here – it’s only for surfing. There are actually several breaks here and each break is a different level of difficulty. When I went, there were 3 main ones: Inside Right (intermediate), Outside Right (advanced), and Don Don (beginner). By far, Inside Right is the most popular one as it caters to most levels, including a beginner friendly shoulder area where a lot of surf lessons take place.

The breaks are all very far out where you cannot see them from the land, and you have to take a boat out to them. When you arrive at the main Gerupuk parking area, there are several shops where you can rent a board from (50k IDR = $3 USD) and arrange a boat to take you out to the break (200k IDR per boat, or 50k IDR per person if you have 4+ people). It’s easiest to go with a group of people and pay 50k each, or you can wait around the parking lot for other people to arrive and join a boat together. The boat waits at the break for you for 2 hours while you surf and then takes you back.

I surfed Inside Right only, and must’ve surfed it over a dozen times. It’s a consistent wave that I really enjoyed and the size was always around the 1-1.5m range, with some smaller days and some bigger days. It’s mainly a right which then takes you to a channel where it’s easy to paddle back out, but the right tends to be very crowded and has a lot of beginners towards the shoulder. There’s sometimes also a left, as it breaks somewhat A-frame, and I personally prefer the left here simply because it’s not crowded at all. The only downside is that there’s no channel and the waves are oftentimes relentless making it impossible to get directly back out, so you might be stuck going all the way to the right to get to the channel to get back out.

The break works at all tide times and it’s mostly a seaweed bottom, so they say it’s okay to go even at low tide. There is still a little bit of reef at the bottom though, so I personally prefer not to go directly at low tide. Winds and overall conditions are fairly consistent throughout the entire day. My favorite time of day to go is at mid-day, purely because mornings and sunsets are the most crowded. Most lessons happen in the morning so if you want to avoid sharing the lineup with beginners, I would avoid morning as much as possible. Most people don’t go during mid-day simply because the sun is too strong, so if you sunscreen up and can handle the sun okay, I’d recommend giving it a shot then!

I didn’t go to any other breaks since Inside Right was the perfect intermediate wave for me. But if you want something easier or more challenging, you can arrive at the parking area and ask the shops about the Outside Right and Don Don breaks to see how they are breaking that day.

Mawi

Mawi is a nice, small, and quaint beach with advanced surf, and is one of the furthest from Kuta. It’s about 40 minutes away by scooter with the last 15 minutes being an unpaved, bumpy dirt road. The beach is a small cove and there’s only one local warung with a few beach umbrellas for rent. I really liked that it felt small and cozy, as most of the beaches around here are bigger and busier. Since it takes quite a bit of effort to reach here, you’ll find only the more adventurous who are there to chase waves. I enjoyed spending an afternoon reading and drinking a Bintang here while my friend surfed, but I would say it’s generally not worth the effort of getting to just to lounge at unless you’re also there to surf. It’s also a shallow reef that makes it not suitable for swimming, though you can find some nice spots to sit around in in shallow waters.

Mawi is generally an advanced break, except at times with smaller swells, it can also be appropriate for intermediate surfers. It’s a fairly fast and hollow wave with a tricky current, and has an A-frame break with a better left than right. It’s a shallow reef break, so you can only go out at mid to high tide.

Mawun

Mawun beach is another nice beach to hang out at that’s in a large cove. It’s got a nice, white sandy beach and several warungs lining it where you can purchase food, drinks, and sit at a beach umbrella. It’s smaller than Tajung Aan and bigger than Mawi. It’s also got a nice, quaint feel, and it’s less visited than Tajung Aan. It’d be my second choice beach to lounge at for the day (second to Tajung Aan). There’s no surfing here.

Other beaches

Other beaches nearby that I didn’t spend much time at are Selong Belanak, also a surf spot for super beginners, and Areguling Beach. The main beach in Kuta has a lot of boats and trash and isn’t very nice, and I wouldn’t recommend spending much time there. The part of the beach down by Mandalika is clean and nicer, and can be nice to hang out and have a beer at.

What to eat and drink

Kuta has my favorite food scene in all my 4 months in Indonesia. What I love is that there is such a good mix of local and cheap food, as well as Western food options.

Local food

• Cheap Zone – Large outdoor warung with seating along the street and a nice vibe. Great fresh seafood and cheap cocktails. The nasi goreng tuna satay is amazing and cocktails are 35K ($2) all night long. The cocktails are not necessarily amazing, but the mojito was consistently solid.

• Gulas Garden – Stumbled here on my last day and was unexpectedly surprised by how good the food was. I got nasi goreng seafood and my friend got the chicken schnitzel, and both were amazing. Cute small warung along the street with outdoor garden seating.

• Warung Bude – Local warung with the best nasi kuning. It’s a yellow rice dish that comes with a light curry sauce on top, is topped with an omelet, and served with tempe and tofu on the side. It’s absolutely amazing and you need to try it at least once. This is one of the most popular warungs of Kuta.

• Neo Kitchen – I really liked this place. It’s local food, but with a different spin on it. It has Indonesian flavors but is not just your typical nasi goreng. It’s on a small side street that you would never pass by unless you were looking for it, and I liked how it was a bit of an escape from other busier parts of Kuta. The staff is also extremely friendly here that I loved coming back here just to support them (and the food was delicious).

• Lalapan Amanda – Very casual local warung along the street with huge portions, really cheap prices, and a really friendly owner. It’s a really popular place and while most people loved it, I actually found the food just okay and mostly went for the vibes. Worth trying for yourself if you have several nights in town.

• The buffet – I’m sure there is technically a name for this place, but everyone just calls it the buffet. It is what it sounds like! It’s an Indonesia buffet where you serve yourself and they calculate the cost based off what you took. Great place to eat a lot of local food at a good price.

• Warung Lamina – Located a bit outside of the main part of Kuta. Good and solid warung.
  

Western restaurants

I didn’t frequent too many Western places since I loved the local food there and the Western food options tended to be a bit expensive, but here were a few I went to repeatedly and would recommend.

• Simonetta – This is my favorite “fancy” Western restaurant, though it was also the only one I tried. They have really good food and a nice ambience while also not breaking the bank. There’s also happy hour from 4-8pm with cheaper cocktails, and these were the best cocktails I had in Kuta. You could even come here just for happy hour cocktails!

• Pizza Shack – I think this is the best pizza in Kuta. It’s set in a nice garden setting that has a bit of a hipster feel. The staff are super friendly and it doesn’t feel overly pretentious despite its nice aesthetic.

• Boom Burger – They serve great burgers for really cheap (25K = $1.50). It has a very lowkey vibe that feels more like a warung. The veggie mushroom burger is amazing, and I’d say looked even better than the meat burgers my friends got.

• Loka – So this is actually a cafe/restaurant that’s connected to a gym. It’s great for breakfast or lunch with its smoothie bowls, wraps, salads, juices, and more. It’s in an interior garden setting and is also a good place to get work done.

• Piccolo – Another cafe I really liked. They have great coffee and breakfast/lunch food options and is located on a side street. It’s a smaller, quieter, and more quaint cafe, and I liked it because it’s a little pocket of peace with very friendly staff that make you feel at home. This is also a good place to work during the day.

Nightlife & bars

Every night of the week, there is a main bar that everyone goes to, and they trade off so that only one is open each night. It rotates between Surfer’s Bar and Rasta Bar, and on Wednesday’s they are both closed and there’s Turtle Rave at Tajung Aan beach.

Both Surfer’s Bar and Rasta Bar are outdoor beach bars that have live music and a DJ every night. Both have space to sit and hang out, as well as space to dance. While they’re pretty similar, I prefer Surfer’s Bar as vibe tends to be more lively there, and more chill at Rasta Bar.

Turtle Rave is every Wednesday at Turtle Warung at Tajung Aan and costs 100K IDR ($6) for entry, which includes a free drink. Tajung Aan is a 15 minute scooter ride from town, so you do have to plan around being able to get yourself back by scooter. There are usually locals with scooters waiting outside offering rides back to Kuta, but they usually charge a lot, so it’s best to plan around being able to get back yourself. Most weeks, Turtle Rave has a techno DJ, though I’ve also heard of there being different genres some weeks. I honestly don’t like Turtle Rave that much since it feels like it’s trying too much to be a rave and I prefer the chiller beach bar vibe, but if you’re in Kuta for a while, it might be worth it to check out at some point.

Aside from these 3 main bars, there are honestly not a ton of other bar options in Kuta. Most people have drinks with dinner, but there aren’t too many dedicated bars. A lot of restaurants also have happy hour deals around 4-8pm, so you can just take a walk around and see what appeals to you. Here are just a couple of bars I enjoyed:

• Ketapang Beach Bar – This is a nice and lively outdoor bar with live music right along the beach. Usually pretty full with people sitting at tables eating and drinking while enjoying the live music.

• Cantina Mexicana – A Mexican restaurant that’s pretty good and also a place that would be a fun vibe to grab a few beers or margaritas at. On Thursday nights, they also have reggaeton night and you can go dancing!

What to do besides beaches and surfing

While you’ll probably spend the majority of your time surfing or lounging at the beach, there are also a ton of other nice things to do in the area. Since you’ll have a scooter, one of the first things you should do is just go drive around and explore! My first day in Kuta we drove all the way up to Selong Belanak, making a surf stop at Mawi, and then all the way down to Tajung Aan and Gerupuk. Even just the drive all this way, especially up towards Mawi, was nice.

There are also two main sunset spots which are really nice. The closer one is Ryan Cafe, which is up on a hill only around a 5-10 minute drive from town. You can order food and drinks at the cafe and enjoy the sunset over the hills. The second one is Bukit Merese which is on a hill that overlooks the water, and you can see the sunset set over the vast ocean. It’s a beautiful spot but a bit further from town - about a 20 minute drive. There’s also one last one which a local friend recommended to me that I was never able to make it to, called Pantai Seger. It’s supposedly also a really nice spot up on a hill that overlooks the ocean and is only around a 10 minute drive from town.

In town, there are tons of cheap massage options. My personal favorite was this local place. Over the month I was there, I went probably 5 times. It was a very consistently good massage, and cost only 100K ($6). The only downside, if you call this a downside, is that they go through the exact same technique and sequence each time so if you want to go many times and like variation, you won’t find it here. The upside though, is that it’s a very consistent and good massage! This is a cheap local massage place, but there are also other nice Western spa places if that’s what you’re looking for.

Kuta has a healthy, outdoor living vibe that encourages staying active. You can take a yoga class at Ashtari, which has a beautiful outdoor yoga deck that’s on a hill and overlooks Kuta. Many people also take advantage of having a gym available to them in Kuta - something we oftentimes neglect while traveling! There are a few in town, but Loka is a popular one. There’s also a cafe there with great food where you can load up after a workout.

Day and weekend trips from Kuta

If you’re staying in Kuta a bit longer and looking for more to explore, there are a lot of nice day and weekend trips around Lombok that you can do from Kuta. I spent 6 weeks on Lombok, and it’s a really nice island with local culture and beautiful diverse scenery. You can drive 1.5 hours east to Ekas, which is known for its pink sand beaches and natural undeveloped scenery. You can also find some decent uncrowded surf breaks here. You can drive 2 hours west to Sekotong, another beautiful coastal area that’s much more local and untouched than both Ekas and Kuta. Or you can drive 1.5 hours north to Tetebatu for completely different scenery from the coast of the south. There, you’ll find tranquility amidst the jungle, along with beautiful waterfalls and rice fields. It’s a refreshing change from the beach and crowds of Kuta.

Overall, go to Kuta!

I really loved Kuta and would highly recommend it as a place to surf, chill, and enjoy the beach if you like a relaxed and easygoing pace of life while having adventurous things to do around. Here’s a more detailed account of my experience in Kuta if you’d like to read my personal travel blog :).